A new terrestrial frog has been discovered in Goa, seen in the high elevation areas near paddy fields and ponds. The frog is brown coloured and has been given the scientific name Fejervarya goemchi in honor of the state where it was identified. The team that made the discovery was led by KP Dinesh, from […]
Snow Leopard Photographed for the First Time in Arunachal Pradesh
Scientists have obtained the first evidence of the elusive snow leopard in Arunachal Pradesh. Camera traps have captured images of the big cat at Thembang village’s Community Conserved Area, a community-owned reserve, in West Kameng district. The presence of the species outside a protected areas highlights the importance of community support for conservation as well as landscape-scale […]
New Aquatic Species of Snake Discovered in the Western Ghats
Quick Notes A new species of aquatic snake has been discovered in the Western Ghats. It is endemic to India. The snake prefers to live in fresh water streams. Juveniles and adults have different coloration. The snake was earlier mistaken to be Olive forest snake but was correctly identified after DNA testing to be a […]
4 New Species Of Burrowing Frogs Discovered In India
For researcher Sonali Garg, the discovery of not 1 but four new species of frogs by her comes as a complete surprise. It is because for her field study in the Western Ghats, she was on the lookout for only a single species of burrowing frog named the Rufescent Burrowing Frog (Fejervarya rufescens) that builds its […]
Blind, Albino Crab Discovered In Meghalaya, India
It is almost blind, white in colour and is the first cave dwelling crab discovered from India. In Meghalaya, a north eastern Indian state, scientists from the zoological survey of India have found a new crab species in a 7.3 km long cave, the 8th longest cave in the country. The discovery was made by […]
Caracal Spotted In Bharatpur Bird Sanctuary For The First Time
The caracal is not a commonly known wild cat in India because of its very rare appearance. But the cat does exist here and it was recently spotted for the first time in Bharatpur Bird Sanctuary in Rajasthan. While they are known to live in the state, the earlier sightings in Rajasthan have only been […]
Critically Endangered Bengal Florican Seen In Dudhwa
The Bengal Florican is a critically endangered bird found in India, and any sighting of the species is a rare event and a cause to rejoice. Recently one member of the species was sighted in the grasslands of Dudhwa National Park for the first time this season. According to a report by the Bombay Natural […]
World’s Oldest Plant Fossil Discovered In India
A recent discovery of a 1.6 billion year old plant fossil from India has led to a reassessment by scientists of timelines in the evolution of life on Earth. The plant fossils appear like red algae and may signify the earliest-known plants when earth was very much a barren land. They were excavated from phosphate-rich […]
Turtle Thought To Be Extinct In The Wild, Discovered In Nagaland
The International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) lists the black soft shell turtle as Extinct in the Wild (EW) which means wild population of the species are no more present in the world though they could be present in captivity. It comes as a huge surprise therefore when this freshwater turtle was discovered recently […]
Primate Fossil Discovered From Jammu & Kashmir, Shows A Lemur Like Primate Once Lived Here
A fossil of a new primate species discovered in Kashmir has been found to be a distant relative of the lemurs and might help change the known evolutionary history of primates of India and the world. Fossil hunters have found the jawbone fossil of a new primate species from Kashmir that lived 11 to 14 […]
Frogs Have The Unique Ability To See Colours In Extreme Darkness
The night vision of frogs and toads appears to be superior to that of all other animals. They have the ability to see colour even when it is so dark that humans are not able to see anything at all. This has been shown in a new study by researchers from Lund University in Sweden. […]